Kyle Hartman, Composition

Song for Squidward; Gravity; Otherwise; Fireworks; Clutter: A Desk Jockey Etude; Promise of Salvation: A Choral Triptyc

SNAP judgments: A small N acceptability paradigm (SNAP) for linguistic acceptability judgments

While published linguistic judgments sometimes differ from the judgments found in large-scale formal experiments with naive participants, there is not a consensus as to how often these errors occur nor as to how often formal experiments should be used in syntax and semantics research. In this article, we first present the results of a large-scale replication of the Sprouse et al. 2013 study on 100 English contrasts randomly sampled from Linguistic Inquiry 2001–2010 and tested in both a forced-choice experiment and an acceptability rating experiment. Like Sprouse, Schütze, and Almeida, we find that the effect sizes of published linguistic acceptability judgments are not uniformly large or consistent but rather form a continuum from very large effects to small or nonexistent effects. We then use this data as a prior in a Bayesian framework to propose a small n acceptability paradigm for linguistic acceptability judgments (SNAP Judgments). This proposal makes it easier and cheaper to obtain meaningful quantitative data in syntax and semantics research. Specifically, for a contrast of linguistic interest for which a researcher is confident that sentence A is better than sentence B, we recommend that the researcher should obtain judgments from at least five unique participants, using at least five unique sentences of each type. If all participants in the sample agree that sentence A is better than sentence B, then the researcher can be confident that the result of a full forced-choice experiment would likely be 75% or more agreement in favor of sentence A (with a mean of 93%). We test this proposal by sampling from the existing data and find that it gives reliable performance.*American Society for Engineering Education. National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowshi

Measurements of resistance and reactance in fish with the use of bioelectrical impedance analysis: sources of error

New technologies can be riddled with unforeseen sources of error, jeopardizing the validity and application of their advancement. Bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) is a new technology in fisheries research that is capable of estimating proximate composition, condition, and energy content in fish quickly, cheaply, and (after calibration) without the need to sacrifice fish. Before BIA can be widely accepted in fisheries science, it is necessary to identify sources of error and determine a means to minimize potential errors with this analysis. We conducted controlled laboratory experiments to identify sources of errors within BIA measurements. We concluded that electrode needle location, procedure deviations, user experience, time after death, and temperature can affect resistance and reactance measurements. Sensitivity analyses showed that errors in predictive estimates of composition can be large (>50%) when these errors are experienced. Adherence to a strict protocol can help avoid these sources of error and provide BIA estimates that are both accurate and precise in a field or laboratory setting

Soil microbial biodiversity promotes crop productivity and agro-ecosystem functioning in experimental microcosms

Soil biota contribute substantially to multiple ecosystem functions that are key for geochemical cycles and plant performance. However, soil biodiversity is currently threatened by land-use intensification, and a mechanistic understanding of how soil biodiversity loss interacts with the myriad of intensification elements (e.g., the application of chemical fertilizers) is still unresolved. Here we experimentally simplified soil biological communities in microcosms to test whether changes in the soil microbiome influenced soil multifunctionality including crop productivity (leek, Allium porrum). Additionally, half of microcosms were fertilized to further explore how different levels of soil biodiversity interact with nutrient additions. Our experimental manipulation achieved a significant reduction of soil alpha-diversity (45.9 % reduction in bacterial richness, 82.9 % reduction in eukaryote richness) and resulted in the complete removal of key taxa (i.e., arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi). Soil community simplification led to an overall decrease in ecosystem multifunctionality; particularly, plant productivity and soil nutrient retention capacity were reduced with reduced levels of soil biodiversity. Ecosystem multifunctionality was positively correlated with soil biodiversity (R = 0.79). Mineral fertilizer application had little effect on multifunctionality compared to soil biodiversity reduction, but it reduced leek nitrogen uptake from decomposing litter by 38.8 %. This suggests that natural processes and organic nitrogen acquisition are impaired by fertilization. Random forest analyses revealed a few members of protists (i.e., Paraflabellula), Actinobacteria (i.e., Micolunatus), and Firmicutes (i.e., Bacillus) as indicators of ecosystem multifunctionality. Our results suggest that preserving the diversity of soil bacterial and eukaryotic communities within agroecosystems is crucial to ensure the provisioning of multiple ecosystem functions, particularly those directly related to essential ecosystem services such as food provision

Hydraulic-Electric Hybrid Vehicle

Final report for Team 1 of ME450, Fall 2008 semesterThe University of Michigan has purchased an electric vehicle called the Xebra. The Xebra is a 3-wheeled electric vehicle that looks like a mini-utility truck, but it is classified as a motorcycle, legal for driving in the United States. This is a multi-term project, and the ultimate goal is to convert it into the world's first hydraulic-electric hybrid, a project you can drive at the end of the term! Most electric vehicles waste over 50% of the battery energy when challenged with the accelerations of modern traffic. The hydraulic-electric hybrid will improve the city range by 40%+ over the standard electric vehicle. Previous terms have baselined the Xebra, and integrated a hydraulic slow-fill pump and hydraulic motor to propel the Xebra. They have tripled the acceleration without affecting the range. This term will add regenerative braking by integrating a hydraulic pump.David Swain, EPA National Vehicle Fuel Emissions Laboratory, Ann Arbor.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/61912/1/ME450 Fall2008 Final Report - Team 01 - Hydraulic Electric Hybrid Vehicle.pd

The microbial contribution to litter decomposition and plant growth

Soil and plant roots are colonized by highly complex and diverse communities of microbes. It has been proposed that bacteria and fungi have synergistic effects on litter decomposition, but experimental evidence supporting this claim is weak. In this study, we manipulated the composition of two microbial kingdoms (Bacteria and Fungi) in experimental microcosms. In microcosms that were inoculated with fungi, litter loss was 47% higher than in microcosms that were not inoculated or only inoculated with bacteria. Combined inoculation with both bacteria and fungi did not significantly enhance decomposition compared with the fungi-only treatments, and, as such, we found no evidence for complementary effects using our experimental setup. Inoculation with fungi also had a positive impact on plant growth after 4 and 8 weeks (480% and 710% growth stimulation, respectively). After 16 weeks, plant biomass was highest in microcosms where both bacteria and fungi were present pointing to fungal-bacterial complementarity in stimulating plant growth. Overall, this study suggests that fungi are the main decomposers of plant litter and that the inoculated fungi contribute to plant growth in our experimental system

A symbiotic footprint in the plant root microbiome

BACKGROUND: A major aim in plant microbiome research is determining the drivers of plant-associated microbial communities. While soil characteristics and host plant identity present key drivers of root microbiome composition, it is still unresolved whether the presence or absence of important plant root symbionts also determines overall microbiome composition. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) and N-fixing rhizobia bacteria are widespread, beneficial root symbionts that significantly enhance plant nutrition, plant health, and root structure. Thus, we hypothesized that symbiont types define the root microbiome structure. RESULTS: We grew 17 plant species from five families differing in their symbiotic associations (no symbioses, AMF only, rhizobia only, or AMF and rhizobia) in a greenhouse and used bacterial and fungal amplicon sequencing to characterize their root microbiomes. Although plant phylogeny and species identity were the most important factors determining root microbiome composition, we discovered that the type of symbioses also presented a significant driver of diversity and community composition. We found consistent responses of bacterial phyla, including members of the Acidobacteria, Chlamydiae, Firmicutes, and Verrucomicrobia, to the presence or absence of AMF and rhizobia and identified communities of OTUs specifically enriched in the different symbiotic groups. A total of 80, 75 and 57 bacterial OTUs were specific for plant species without symbiosis, plant species forming associations with AMF or plant species associating with both AMF and rhizobia, respectively. Similarly, 9, 14 and 4 fungal OTUs were specific for these plant symbiont groups. Importantly, these generic symbiosis footprints in microbial community composition were also apparent in absence of the primary symbionts. CONCLUSION: Our results reveal that symbiotic associations of the host plant leaves an imprint on the wider root microbiome - which we term the symbiotype. These findings suggest the existence of a fundamental assembly principle of root microbiomes, dependent on the symbiotic associations of the host plant

Photothermal Bleaching of Nickel Dithiolene for Bright Multi-colored 3D Printed Parts

HP’s Multi Jet Fusion is a powder bed fusion 3D printing technology that utilizes a carbon-based radiation absorber in combination with a near infrared (NIR) light source to facilitate the fusion of polymer powder in a layer-by-layer fashion to generate 3D parts. Most available carbon-based and NIR radiation absorbers have an intrinsic dark color, which as a result will only produce black/gray and dark colored parts. However, there are many applications that require variable color, including prosthetics, medical models, and indicators, among others. To create white, bright colored, and translucent parts with MJF, a visibly transparent and colorless radiation absorber is required. In this paper, we designed an activating fusing agent (AFA) that contains a red, strong NIR absorbing dye that turns colorless after harvesting irradiation energy during the MJF 3D printing process and provide a bright colored part when working with other color agents.Mechanical Engineerin